Advance Ruling for Origin Under Free Trade Agreements
Ground Ginger

Applicant

This is in response to your request for an advance ruling on the originating status under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of ground ginger. This product is exported from your company in Union, New Jersey.

TRS Number:

271221

Classification Number:

0910.12.00.00

NAFTA

YES

Effective Date:

July 23, 2015

Product Description

Kalustyan Corporation imports whole ginger from Nigeria into the United States under 0910.11.00.15 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States. After importation the whole ginger is inspected, cleaned if necessary and ground at Kalustyan Corporation’s plant in Union, New Jersey. The ground ginger is then packaged in 50 pound paper bags and exported to industrial users in Canada. When imported into Canada the tariff classification of the ground ginger is 0910.12.00.00.

Analysis and Justification

At issue is whether the ground ginger qualifies for preferential NAFTA tariff treatment under the NAFTA Rules of Origin Regulations. As this product is not wholly obtained or produced entirely in one of the NAFTA territories, it will qualify as an originating good only if the non-originating materials used in its manufacture meet the requirements of the Specific Rules of Origin found in Schedule I of the NAFTA Rules of Origin Regulations and satisfy all other applicable requirements of the Regulations.

The specific rule of origin for the ground ginger requires "A change to a good of subheading 0910.10 from within that subheading or any other chapter." Due to amendments to the 2012 Customs Tariff, subheading 0910.10 is now a suppressed subheading that has been further subdivided into subheadings 0910.11 and 0910.12. Thus whole ginger, formerly classified 0910.10.10.00 is now classified 0910.11.00.00 and ground ginger, formerly classified 0910.10.20.00 is now classified 0910.12.00.00. Although the NAFTA Specific Rules of Origin have not yet been amended to reflect these changes, the rule of origin as it appears in the Regulations is applicable to goods now classified under subheadings 0910.11 and 0910.12 that would have been classified under subheading 0910.10 prior to these amendments.

Decision

Based on the information provided, the non-originating whole ginger meets the tariff shift required by the specific rule of origin as a result of production occurring entirely in the United States. Accordingly, the ground ginger qualifies as an originating good and is entitled to the benefits of preferential tariff treatment under Article 401(b) of the NAFTA.

Legislative/Administrative References

This ruling has been issued under paragraph 43.1(1)(a) of the Customs Act and Article 509 of the NAFTA. It will be honoured by the CBSA for future importations of the goods specified, provided the material facts and circumstances remain as originally presented; all conditions in the ruling have been met; the ruling has not been modified, revoked, revised, or cancelled; and the Customs Tariff legislation has not changed. Should there be a change in the material facts or circumstances pertaining to the goods, you must notify the CBSA as soon as possible. You may request that the advance ruling be modified or revoked as of the date of the change.

Importers should quote the advance ruling number at the time of importation in either the description field of the B3 entry document or on the Canada Customs Invoice. Exporters or producers should quote the advance ruling number on the Certificate of Origin or commercial invoice accompanying the goods.

Should you disagree with this advance ruling, you may file a dispute notice under subsection 60(2) of the Customs Act within 90 days of the date of issuance. Please see the procedures outlined in Appendix C of the CBSA's Memorandum D11-4-16, Advance Rulings for Origin Under Free Trade Agreements.

This advance ruling is considered 'reason to believe' for the purposes of section 32.2 of the Customs Act and the CBSA's Administrative Monetary Penalty System, described in Memorandum D22-1-1.

All Memoranda referenced in this letter may be accessed on the CBSA website.

Consent to the Public Release of the Advance Ruling

As per your consent statement, we will release this advance ruling to the public in accordance with the procedures described in Memorandum D11-4-16. The ruling will be published on the CBSA website in 30 days.